Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021 Essay Help

Effective Digital Bangladesh: concepts, values perspectives of Third world

We all love our country Bangladesh. As a Bangladeshi, we have different perception, religious beliefs, and contingency of thoughts, available information and correcting response of emerging issues, which are affecting our personal life with changing the environmental. Now all of the Bangladeshi people have been known the emerging concept “Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021”in this Informational age.

Digital Bangladesh: Young Generation

Present prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in 2008 have been arising a broad concept “Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021”, which is significantly changes our environmental counterword. The victory of Awami League in the last election has given the new government a huge task of meeting people’s aspirations. Different analyses of the electoral results have exposed that the young generation who consist of more than one third of the voters had indeed brought this overwhelming victory for AL. The visionary approach of AL’s manifesto, especially its ‘Vision 2021′ which envisions a ‘digital Bangladesh’.

Digital age aspects: Third World

The digital Technology has been created major changes in the worldwide. The world in which we live – the world of late modernity – is characterized by a deep uncertainty; uncertainty not only about the foundations of social structure, but also about individual identity. Digital technology offers powerful tools for learning, for self-expression, and for the building, maintenance and sharing of identity. But for citizens of the third age, these aspects of the modern world pose a threat to their identity. Being able to use the technology appropriately in real situations is therefore important to any citizen. Technology has not changed the notion of what learning is, but it has opened up more avenues in thinking how it can be done. If we wish to empower seniors digitally we should focus on their goals for digital usage, the areas in which digital activity is socially meaningful and contribute directly to the development of meaning and identity.

Allan Martin (February 2009:2) Digital Literacy for the Third Age: Sustaining Identity in an Uncertain World eLearning Papers, www.elearningpapers.eu, 1 Nº 12 • February 2009, ISSN 1887-1542 Bangladesh should be part of Information age and “Digital Bangladesh”, needs to be the basis grounded for Bangladesh. The concept of Digital Bangladesh should be centered on the creation of what is popularly termed as a “knowledge based society,” Therefore, knowledge-based society where information will be readily available online and where all possible tasks of the government, semi-government and also private spheres will be processed using online. In the third world perspective identify three key elements – i.

Late modern society

ii. Digitally-infused society iii. A society in which change is perceived as endemic and as rapid, in which nothing appears to remain the same, in which fashions change by the season, political leaders rise and fall with stunning rapidity, “celebrities” arise from nowhere with often the slimmest claim to fame, and can vanish overnight, and every product on the market is “new”.

Late modern society:

It is a globalised society, in which the free-market economy has become transformed into a supranational order, in which the elite, no longer loyal or beholden to any one country, and itself highly mobile in terms of its location and lifestyle, deploys capital on a global basis.

Digitally-infused society:

Digital technology has become essential to the accomplishment of most official and commercial activities, and many personal ones too. The digital, which was initially a tool to achieve faster and more efficiently the activities we already performed, has enabled activities previously considered unimaginable, including globalization itself. It has also forced a change in the way we think about information, from a finite and miserable substance to a product of infinite quantity which can only be engaged with through digital tools. (Online services) A society in which change is perceived as endemic and as rapid: Buzzwords define values: in higher education “quality” has been superseded by “excellence” (– but what comes after excellence?).

In practice the change is not so real – the companies making the new products are the same, and the rich tend to stay or high rich – but the perception of change is necessary in a global economy whose basis is consumption. All these elements already exist in our daily life of the Bangladesh. Living own life responsibility taking concentrate towards the concept of “globalize” words for personal misfortunes and unanticipated events. Allan Martin (February 2009:3) Digital Literacy for the Third Age: Sustaining Identity in an Uncertain World eLearning Papers, www.elearningpapers.eu, 1 Nº 12 • February 2009, ISSN 1887-1542

Manuel Castells: The Internet Galaxy, ‘The Internet is a fundamental instrument for Development in the Third World’ (castells2001:5) The digital technology is reshaping Bangladeshi economy, political and socio cultural scenario. The Slogan “Digital Bangladesh” meaning knowledge-society which creates an information relational sphere. All of sphere is equally important to thinking & making positively awareness to environmental event through information efficiency. The local community ceases to be an element of stability which confers aspects of identity, and the building of involvement in communities has become a conscious action forming part of the construction of individual identity. (Blogging) Individual responsibility does have positive as well as negative aspects: the freedom to make one’s own biography has never been greater, a theme frequently repeated in the media. (Information efficiency & availability)

Technological Advantages of Digital Age: effectively cause violence: Computers, modern telecommunication and the Internet all reduce communication costs and break down geographical borders. That’s why; ICT can be an important driver in poverty reduction and assure sustained economic growth, better public welfare, and strong social solidity and democratic forms of government. More and more efficiency of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has change in governmental functions globally to achieve efficiency and cost-effective service delivery to citizens. Digital Bangladesh is a transformative vision that proposes to use modern technology to impact every aspect of public and private life and they way they interacts to improve the quality of life and quality of governance. Technology is offering huge significantly broad concept throughout the Internet.

This is easier to connect the worldwide with one second-

* Easily get information of the any site of world(Google, Yahoo etc) * Now Educational sphere is not local also growing worldwide(All information on websites) * Financial Institutes provide international Service with their own identity(e-banking) * Significantly changes the Social Communication (Facebook, Blogging etc) * Bangladesh telecommunication have been reached rural area & making a thinking of new theory of social communication also provide daily activities (agricultural, medical service through mobile) * The news of all Newspapers published on Online

* Media & Advertising concept blinded on a web page. * Now-a-days All Bangladeshi political groups’ have own websites & all groups update their activities on basis of countrywide. Information technology reduces costs, saves time, improves efficiency, raises comfort levels and increases the confidence of peoples. Also affect the societal changes of the situational effect which coherence distorted values of ethics. Newly emerged internet activity create technology based society & create negative impact of child caution of low cost of the accessed of internet mobile. Which have broadly connected social ethics, cultural movement, new thinking of any possible outcomes, satellite competitiveness, unfair attitude on different perspective countries, religious beliefs of any community, easy browse of pornographic event, news of violence create negative effective also frequently inspired by the issue arising, which distortion of our daily living life thinking.

* September 29th ,2012 ‘Ramu Violence’ happened in Cox’s Bazaar District, Bangladesh: Caused of ethical concept published behind the religious beliefs, as therefore distortion the Cultural heritage of Bangladesh, create dilemma between two community also significantly arising social imbalance. * Rape and murder in Delhi- Whole world to rise up and demonstrate at the murderous gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi on a mid-December evening. Not just the fact of the crime: in India rape has long been depressingly common. It damages our social security also affect perception of people thinking about the social accountability. * After the Rape and murder in Delhi coincidently effect our young generation to arise some unethical practices, I’ve noticed my personal opinion: In January (1-5) we have seen the media & newspaper published some raping cases which happened in Tangail & Savaar. Finally, we have right to know the real meaning of –

“Digital Age is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyze and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process. (Martin, 2006: 19)” Strategy plan for Bangladesh:

The people of Bangladesh are in dialogue and the topic is about their future – a future that is encapsulated by the phrase “Digital Bangladesh.” The goals are to ensure human rights, legal services, social equity, productivity, integrity, law and order, etc. for the people through the automation and deployment of ICTs. These are mentioned in the ICT Policy of 2009. In the pillars of Digital Bangladesh, the various stakeholders provided an assessment on the present situation of Bangladesh in terms of e-governance, e-business, cyber security, ICT infrastructure, health, education and the digital divide.

In summary, the study looked into the narratives and ensuing dialogues on Digital Bangladesh from the perspective of government, business, academe, media, IT and civil society. From the findings, it can be cleaned that Bangladeshis from these various sectors felt they had a huge stake in Digital Bangladesh and for this reason, did not allow the campaign slogan to die a natural death.

Developed ICT & Trained manpower:

ICT is the backbone of any digital initiative. It covers the vast area of information ensuring connectivity through the information technology, communication technology and of course the telecommunication technology. Without the development of the ICT sector, the dream of a Digital Bangladesh would not be possible. The main factors of ICT are the physical backbone and the intellect. Computer Systems, Network Machineries, Software, Wire and Wireless Connectivity Systems, Broadcast Hardware and many other Hardware and Accessories are the physical backbone. The trained human behind the backbone are the intellect. To materialize the idea of digital Bangladesh, development of countrywide backbone and expected number of human recourses are the basic needs.

Awareness of the arising issue: Government policy

On the other hand, while mass people are concern, availability, accessibility and affordability must be ensured; otherwise the objective of building a digital Bangladesh could not be achieved properly. Due to globalization, more specifically due to booming of ICT like most of the country of the globe, Bangladesh has already been connected with the outside world through the information super highway.

* The study found that the sectors’ leaders had diverging assessments on the state of e-governance, e-commerce and software/hardware industry but were more in agreement with health, education, agriculture, digital divide and cyber security. They like wise had shared meanings regarding the stakeholders/beneficiaries, pillars/components and scope of Digital Bangladesh but were divided regarding its definition, goals and roadmap. They presented a myriad of Challenges and policy recommendations for Digital Bangladesh as well.

* Nationwide will provide the all information which is accurately correspondent of peoples needed though ensure the slogan. * Only one ID-which provide all valid services like: Banking services, voting, Driving License, foreign services etc…At the cause the access of information under one identity if we will make generally. * Ensuring all Bangladeshis to acquire minimum Certificate S.S.C * Avoid the competitively awareness of the political issues, create a harmony to bonding the community based development to image political Leaders.

* Social awareness is the broadest concept of the developing to understand the environmental changes. * Also Government should be most vulnerable activities to reach the slogan “Digital Bangladesh”. Digitalization of Bangladesh will depend how best the Government can leverage the power of ICT to increase the access to information of its population. . . . The final weakness is implementation approach, which has been focused on government delivery rather than facilitation and enabling of private and voluntary sector solutions.”

Conclusion

Digital is a tool that will help accelerate economic development and increase competitive edges of Bangladesh in the world market. Wide-scale digitization is likely to help Bangladesh become a mid-income country sooner than otherwise possible. However, for proper management the government needs to define its vision, mission and goals and formulate strategies and prepare action plans supported by necessary financial and human resources so that the plans can be implemented. The forces of globalization and technology are continuously reshaping our economy. The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) is giving rise to a new type of economy – the knowledge based economy.

It is necessary to mention that in the short run “Digital Bangladesh” aims at E-Governance and service delivery through utilizing ICT. But the vision “Digital Bangladesh” concept is the whole arena of a knowledge based Digital Economy. Bangladesh can’t afford to achieve that goal in the short and medium run. The thinkers, technocrats and IT experts have to focus on the short run issues and measures the present Government should undertake to digitalize Bangladesh.

It is important to start digitalizing service delivery organs like Police, City corporation, Land Department, Tax Department, PDB, Water supply, Gas and other authorities also including sectors like Banking, Insurance, Customs, Tax Collection. Urgent steps should be taken to digitalize institutions like Bangladesh Bank, NBR, PSC, UGC, EC, ACC and other vital institution to go a step ahead towards Good Governance. Our government must take proactive steps to take technology to rural citizens. However our dream towards digital Bangladesh has a long way to go.

Digital Bangladesh is one of the nation's dreams, and so special emphasis is given on the application of digital technologies to realise Vision 2021, which we commonly call Digital Bangladesh. By 2021, after 50 years of independence, our goal is to be a middle-income country with peace, prosperity and dignity. The government of Bangladesh implemented a large number of projects relating to digital technologies and a number of these are already underway. National ICT Policy-2009 was developed with a view to achieve middle-income status of the nation by 2021 and developed status by 2041. The World Bank classifies economies as low-income, middle-income and high-income groups. The Per Capita Gross National Income (GNI) is the basis of the classification. Low-income and middle-income countries are referred to as developing countries. Per Capita GNI is the dollar value of a country's income in a year, divided by its population. As of July 1, 2014, low-income economies are defined (in 2013) as those with GNI per capita of USD 1,045 or less (World Bank Atlas Method) and middle-income economies with a GNI per capita above USD 1,045 (but less than USD 12,746). (According to this classification of the Word Bank, Bangladesh should be very close to the middle-income group now and our target should be the upper middle-income group by 2021.) According to the National ICT Policy-2009, short-term, mid-term and long-term plans consisting of 306 action plans have been identified for the realisation of Vision 2021. Digital Bangladesh is an issue regarding which there is no conflict or difference of opinion between the government and the people – all are working hand-in-hand for its realisation. This short article briefly summarises our achievements in ICT, examines our status in the global perspective, and suggests steps to be taken in light of the recent advancements in ICT.

Achievements The slogan of “Digital Bangladesh” of the Government of Bangladesh has special significance for national development. Digital Bangladesh with Vision 2021 is a big impetus for the use of digital technology in the country. In spite of several bottlenecks and limitations, works are in progress for the realisation of Digital Bangladesh. Several projects for digitalisation have been completed and a big number of projects are under progress. The nation now, with over 12 crore mobile subscribers and 4.3 crore Internet subscribers, enjoys the fruits of digitisation in numerous areas of activities. The ultimate objective is to make more and more services available at the doorsteps of the people with increased digitalisation where possible. A few examples of available digital services are: registration for admission to academic institutions, publication of results of examinations, registration for jobs abroad, registration of pilgrimage, collection of official forms, online submission of tax returns, online tendering, etc. Online banking systems have sped up the financial activities of the country. SMS services for lodging complaints to police stations, online bill payments for utility services, instant communication with persons working abroad, and e-passports are some more examples. Telemedicine services, videoconferencing for the treatment of diseases, and video conferencing for administrative activities are examples of e-services available to rural Bangladesh. Setting up of nearly five thousand Union Information Service Canters is a great boost for Digital Bangladesh, especially for rural areas. Turning eight thousand village post offices and approximately five hundred upazila post offices into e-centers and the introduction of mobile money order and postal cash cards are significant achievements in the recent past. Union Information Centers, District Information Cells, National Information Cell are also revolutionary additions. There are many more developments in the line. Deputy Commissioner Offices in districts and UNO offices in upazilas provide a large number of e-services to rural clients. Direct digital services eliminate middlemen and save both time and money. Without such online services, our cities and towns would have turned into difficult places to live in.

Status and RankingIn spite of mentionable achievements in the recent past, our position as providers and users of ICT services is far behind many countries. This can be explained by the benchmarking indices of responsible international organisations like the United Nations, World Economic Forum, International Telecommunication Union, etc.

Networked Readiness Index (NRI)The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) of the World Economic Forum assesses the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of the nations of the world. The four sub-indices of NRI are: Environment (business, innovation, political and regulatory), Readiness (infrastructure, digital contents, affordability, skills), Usage (individuals, businesses and government), and finally the Impact of ICT (economic and social impact). Each sub-index is based on several pillars (a total of 10) and each pillar is calculated out of a number of indicators. For example, the Environment sub-index is based on two pillars: a) political and regulatory environment, and b) business and innovation environment; the score of political and regulatory environment pillar is calculated out of numerical values of nine indicators.

Table 1: Status of NRI of Bangladesh and its neighboring countries

COUNTRY

2014

2013

2012

Bangladesh

119 (score 3.21)

114

113

Bhutan

94 (score 3.68)

N/A

N/A

India

83 (score 3.85)

68

69

Nepal

123 (score 3.09)

126

128

Pakistan

111 (score 3.33)

105

102

Sri Lanka

76 (score 3.94)

69

71

Table 1 depicts the NRI status of Bangladesh and its neighboring countries. Bangladesh's global position (with a score of 3.21 out of 10) is 119 (out of 144 countries) in 2014, which is five steps below its 114th position in 2013. This was due to poor performance in the Environment, Impact and Usage sub-indices compared to other nations. According to the 2014 NRI rankings, the ranks of India (3.85), Pakistan (3.33) and Sri Lanka (3.94) have also degraded. On the other hand, Nepal (3.09) moved up by three positions to 123 from 126. This indicates our achievements in ICT and current status of digital lifestyle in global perspective. According to the NRI data of 2014, the top 10 countries are: Finland (6.04), Singapore (5.97), Sweden (5.93), Netherlands (5.79), Norway (5.70), Switzerland (5.62), United States (5.61), Hong Kong (5.60), United Kingdom (5.54) and Korea Republic (5.54). Bangladesh needs to improve in the Environment Readiness sub-indices. The public sector of Bangladesh scores higher in the Usage sub-index than the private sector. We need to increase individual usage of ICT besides infrastructure and digital contents for increasing social and economic impact.

ICT Development Index (IDI) The ICT Development Index (IDI) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a useful tool for the status of Information Society. This index, which is based on eleven indicators, is grouped into three categories: Access, Use and Skills. Table 2 depicts the IDI of Bangladesh and its neighboring countries according to the Information Society Report 2014 of ITU. In the 2013 IDI ranking, Bangladesh is ranked 145 and is ahead of Afghanistan and Myanmar amongst our South Asian neighbors. Currently Sri Lanka, ranked 116, is at the highest position in the region. Among the 29 countries of Asia and the Pacific listed in the report, Bangladesh's position is third from the bottom. The bottom two countries are Afghanistan and Myanmar. Bangladesh needs special attention for improvement in the Use sub-category (score of 0.27, rank 150), Access sub-index (score of 2.5, rank 143) as well as the quick expansion of broadband wireless Internet services. However, the good news is that Bangladesh offers mobile cellular services at a lower cost than many countries of the world.

E-Government Development Index (EGDI)United Nation's e-Government Development Index (EGDI) evaluates the impact of ICT on the political economy of a country. This index focuses on how governments use ICT to deliver services to the people and opportunities for citizens to participate in the decision-making process. EGDI is measured on the basis of online services, technological infrastructure and human capital. Table 3 shows Bangladesh's ranking (out of a total of 193 countries) in EGDI as wells as those of its neighbouring countries. Amongst the South Asian countries, Bangladesh (rank 148) is ahead of Afghanistan (rank 173), Nepal (rank 165), Pakistan (rank 158) and Myanmar (rank 175). Ranked at 74, Sri Lanka is at the highest position in the region.

Table-3: EGDI ranking of Bangladesh and its neighboring countries

COUNTRY

2014

2012

2010

Afghanistan

173 (score 0.1900)

184

168

Bangladesh

148 (score 0.2757)

150

134

Bhutan

143 (score 0.2829)

152

152

India

118 (score 0.3834)

125

119

Maldives

94 (score 0.4813)

95

92

Myanmar

175 (score 0.1869)

160

141

Nepal

165 (score 0.2344)

164

153

Pakistan

158 (score 0.2580)

156

146

Sri Lanka

74 (score 0.5418)

115

111

The top 10 countries (with a score out of 1) are: Republic of Korea (0.9462), Australia (0.9103), Singapore (0.9076), France (0.8938), Netherlands (0.8897), Japan (0.8874), USA (0.8748), UK (0.8695), New Zealand (0.8644) and Finland (0.8449). According to a UN report, the least developed countries (LDCs) with significant progress in mobile technology and mobile-government services (such as notification by SMS, mobile-banking and mobile-health services) are of special importance. Bangladesh (score of 0.2757 out of 1) is in the eighth position among 48 LDCs after Rwanda (0.3589), Kiribati (0.3201), Tuvalu (0.3059), Cambodia (0.2999), Angola (0.2970), Bhutan (0.2829) and Tanzania (0.2764). Our rankings in the above mentioned indices (NRI, IDI and EGDI) are poor in comparison to most of the countries of the world.

ICT Trends A noteworthy trend in ICT is that numerous devices with new and updated technologies are rapidly replacing older devices. New technologies for the near future include 3D printing, thumb printing, increased smartphone storage, expanded use of IPv6, broadband services for consumers, cloud computing, quantum computing, real-time speech transaction, nano-computers, wearable devices and networks, cyber security, smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. New trends, techniques and devices will massively involve online activities affecting our lifestyle. IoT interconnects all sensors and smart objects to interconnect in such a way as to make them intelligent, programmable and capable of interacting with humans. More and more smart machines and processes will be required for decision-making in business, administration and education, and they will impact our lifestyle and the jobs of decision-makers significantly. All types of jobs, including business and administration, will be more and more digitised. We in Bangladesh will be forced to use and adapt new technologies and will require expertise in new technologies like cloud computing, 3D printing, Big Data, gaming, animation, outsourcing, etc. Internet services require radical improvement in terms of speed. Starting from e-commerce, the internet is used for numerous applications and a higher speed for internet services is of great significance for rapid economic growth. Most nations of the world now give special emphasis on the improvement of Internet speeds. Average internet speed of users is above 10 Mbps in many countries (South Korea: 25.3 Mbps, Hong Kong: 16.03 Mbps, Japan: 15 Mbps). It is encouraging that the ICT Division of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology has undertaken all-out efforts for the development of ICT human resources through countrywide training. Some examples of these trainings include Learning and Earning, Training for Mobile Apps, Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance Project, and ITES Foundation Skills Training. Special emphasis is given to ICT education up to high school. Also, the ICT policy is being updated to face new trends. Ambitious projects like development of the National ICT Infrastructure for Bangladesh Government (Info Sarkar), National Data Centre and IT Parks will bring about radical improvements in e-services, e-governance and software development in the country.

Actions to be Taken Bangladesh has an impressive track record of growth and development and aspires to achieve middle-income status by its 50th birthday. The country needs faster growth which depends on increased investments, development of human capital and enhanced productivity.We have mentionable progress in ICT considering our previous condition. But keeping in mind our current rank and status in comparison with other nations and the rapid development of ICT, the journey ahead for Digital Bangladesh will not be smooth. Each new technology requires new skills and training. Human capital is a key factor to develop and adapt innovative ideas and technologies. Quality ICT education as well as ICT-based education from the primary to tertiary level, along with the orientation of general mass in ICT should receive top priority. Elimination of the digital divide between rural and urban areas and between Bangladesh and other nations is essential in order to be at par with middle-income nations. A peaceful political environment is essential for intellectual, social, cultural and economic development. Time and time again, the nation's dream for Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh has been shattered by the turbulent political situation. The country dearly needs a tranquil political environment for the development of all sectors, including ICT, and for the realisation of Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh.